Wikipedia and Reddit join the protest against Stop Online Piracy Act – Part 2

Rep. Smith aims on continuing with the campaign against what he calls is the protection of the US intellectual property.

“To enact legislation that protects consumers, businesses and jobs from foreign thieves who steal America’s intellectual property, we will continue to bring together industry representatives and Members to find ways to combat online piracy,” he wrote in a statement to reporters. “I am committed to continuing to work with my colleagues in the House and Senate to send a bipartisan bill to the White House that saves American jobs and protects intellectual property.”

However, the acts of blackout by Reddit and Wikipedia drew Smith’s feud on the internet community.

“It is ironic that a website dedicated to providing information is spreading misinformation about the Stop Online Piracy Act. The bill will not harm Wikipedia, domestic blogs or social networking sites,” he wrote. “This publicity stunt does a disservice to its users by promoting fear instead of facts. Perhaps during the blackout, Internet users can look elsewhere for an accurate definition of online piracy.”

Google also participated in the protest, although they did not pull the plug on their search engine, they included a banner protesting against the infringement of online privacy and freedom of speech. Facebook might also come forward with their own version of the protest as many of its users are currently insisting Mark Zuckerberg and company to act against this heinous activity.

Wikimedia foundation director, Sue Gardner responded to Smith’s statement. She said:

“The reality is that we don’t think SOPA is going away, and PIPA is still quite active. Moreover, SOPA and PIPA are just indicators of a much broader problem. All around the world, we’re seeing the development of legislation intended to fight online piracy, and regulate the Internet in other ways, that hurt online freedoms. Our concern extends beyond SOPA and PIPA: they are just part of the problem. We want the Internet to remain free and open, everywhere, for everyone.”

The protest might not be able to play is part in the rejection of the act; it is the free consent the US Senate. However, like before it might help in the alteration of SOPA to become more acceptable to the masses.

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Posted by Usman Khalid on Jan 18 2012. Filed under USA, World. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.